


Magic Blood: The Revolution

by quiltedog



Category: Original Work
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-15 00:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3431684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiltedog/pseuds/quiltedog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since the beginning of humanity there have been humans with the gift of magic in their blood, though some consider it a curse. Throughout history the magic-blooded and non-magic-blooded humans have fought, both wanting to be in control. The latest war left large ruins. The worst of the damage was in three areas; Canada, Western China, and Eastern Africa. So when the non-magics won, they turned those three ruined areas into new 'countries' which were more of large prisons. In the time the story takes place, people get tested to see if they have magic in their blood and if they do, then what kind of magic. If they are proven to have magic they are marked on their wrists and then shipped off to one of the, now six, countries designated for magic-blooded people.<br/>This story takes place in 'New Canada'. It revolves around several different stories that all mix and connect with each other. The magic-blooded people are getting restless and tired of being treated the way they are. A series of events leads a small group to hidden knowledge of how to use their magic, and with that they start a revolution. Each chapter takes place from different characters views.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Agatha was in the basement again. He was yelling, like he always did. No, no. Agatha sobbed. She was hiding under her children’s toy kitchen watching him hit her mom in rage. Her mom fell, but this time she didn't stand right back up like she always did. She's dead! Agatha thought, but what could she do she was only nine. He kicked her mom yelling at her to get up. "Stop it!" Agatha said crawling out from her hiding spot, "Stop it! You killed her!" His angry face turned towards her, she could see the rage in his eyes, but he's sad, Agatha thought. He threw his beer bottle towards her, it missed, but she heard it fly past and could smell the beer. She started to cry harder, and looked at her mom lying on the floor. Then the anger was flowing in her and she felt it, power coursing through her. She looked at her hands, they looked the same, but they felt different. She heard a choking noise and looked up. His face was bright purple and he was clawing at his throat. He can’t breathe, Agatha thought, did I do this? She felt oddly calm about the whole thing, watching as he sank to the floor and eventually stopped moving. Then she heard her step-brother come who saw what had happened.  
"Witch!" he shouted, "Witch!"  
"No-" Agatha started to say, but her wrist started to burn.  
"Witch," she heard, but this time it was her mother, lying on the floor. "Witch!" her step-brother and mom shouted in unison. Her wrist was burning, she could hardly hear over the pain.  
"Stop-" Agatha sobbed.  
"Witch!" this time he joined in on it. His face purple and swollen. "Witch!" came the endless shout. The pain was growing, the pain…  
Agatha woke, her wrist burning and the dying echo of the chant, "witch" in the back of her mind. She looked down, studying the black mark on her wrist. The three six-pointed stars with have a half-circle above them, giving the look of a dome. She remembered when they put that mark on her, and the pain from it. Reliquimuto they had called her, future shift, or fortuneteller as they were more often called. They hadn't believed her step-brother in saying that she had killed her mother and step-father, but he was so frightened that they had still brought her in to test her blood, and when they had discovered her magic, they branded her and shipped her off to New Canada. New Canada was a space of land, mostly taken from Canada, but a little from the US, one of the places the world had designated for magic blooded people to live. They had left her there penniless and alone. Eleven years later, she was still alone, but mostly still penniless. She had found a job and got off the streets. She kept to herself mostly. Fortunetellers were one of the rarer magic bloods to find and were considered outcasts even amongst their fellow magic blooded humans. She lived in an apartment at the top of an old house, there were six apartments in the building. Two on the top, two on the ground floor and two in the basement. The apartment across the hall from her had been empty, until earlier this week when someone had finally moved in, but she had yet to meet them. She wasn’t one for meeting new people.  
She looked at the clock, swearing, she had work soon. She didn’t mind working at the grocery store too much, but lately her boss had started harassing her. She showered and got ready, putting on her uniform, and bundling up in multiple layers. She stood by her heater for a second before grabbing her apron by her door and walking out the door. She walked down the steps into the entry hall where a man stood in only gym shorts and slippers trying to open a mailbox. This must be the new neighbor, Agatha thought. "Aren't you cold?" Agatha asked, she was still cold in all of her layers.  
"No," he said, glancing over at her. "Do you know the how to open the mail box?" he asked her. He had a very thick European accent, but Agatha couldn’t place what part of Europe. He had long short hair on the sides of his head, but the hair was longer on the top. It was swooped down in front of his face. He had a tired look on his face. Agatha couldn’t help but notice how fit he was, seeing as he didn’t have a shirt on.  
As Agatha took the key from him their fingers touched and she could see a boy playing with a girl, laughing and laughing. Then she saw burning, endless fire. She could see a city burning from up on a hill. He's a pyromancer, she thought. "You just put it in and turn it to the right." Agatha said as she opened his mailbox.  
"Oh." he said, "Now I feel as if stupid" he said turning red. Agatha couldn't tell if the red was from blushing or just heat. She handed his key back, looking into his amber eyes. He’s lonely. He grabbed the papers in his box and walked up the stairs to his apartment. He stopped and turned around, “Thank you.” He said, nodding before heading back up the steps.  
"Anytime," she said as she walked out the door after work as she was walking back into the building, she heard two of the girls that lived downstairs at their mailboxes talking about the new guy, about how attractive he was and how his accent made him even more so. Agatha just rolled her eyes as she walked past, up the stairs to her door. He was attractive, Agatha thought, but I saw eyes, he's not going to fall in love with anyone soon. He’ll probably hardly ever talk to those girls. She knew that look in a person’s eyes all too well. She could see it when they looked at her and she could feel their pain. She could understand why, being thrown into this country, one that wasn't even independent. It was more of a prison, a very large one. She'd never get to see a sunny beach or a rolling desert. She was stuck in New Canada, and it was hard to get a passport to leave it. She had an even worse chance for being a Fortune Teller. People feared the future and the possibilities of someone seeing into them and reading it.  
Later that day there came a knock on the door. Now what? There were very few times that someone knocked on her door just to say hi. She opened the door to see a boy and girl. The boy hade grey eyes and messy black hair. His clothes were disheveled, and he had a mischievous look about him. The girl had blonde hair, and she had vivid green eyes. They were both dressed in large coats and their cheeks were red from just coming out of the cold. Agatha could see the mark of a Greenthumb on the girls wrist, the five leaved plant with a crescent moon to the upper right of it. Greenthumbs were inherently good at working with plants and could grow them even in the harshest of places. They were highly valued in this area of the world. She couldn't see if there was a mark on the boy’s hands. "How can I help you?" Agatha ask smiling at them, trying to hide her annoyance.  
"Are you the Karma Witch?" The little boy asked her, "This is where she told us to look." The little girl nodded in agreement. Agatha was a little taken aback. Karma Witch, Agatha thought, technically a fortune teller was a Karma Witch and that is how they can read people by looking and assessing their karma. In the elder days before the non-magic blooded people took over, the strongest Religuimento could completely control a person's karma, bringing one untold joys and luck, or evil and death. Everyone has done something good and something bad in their lives. The elder Religuimentos could do just about anything because of that. Sadly that led to them being one of the first blood types to be massacred and many of their secrets lost.  
"Sort of… I guess." Agatha said, not sure what the kids were expecting her to do, and wondering who would send them to her. This has to be some kind of prank.  
"Good!" The boy said and the two ran into her house and stood next to the heater. Agatha looked out her door to see if anyone else was around to call this whole prank off. There wasn't anyone, and so she hesitantly shut her door. She sat down on her couch. "What do we do?" The girl asked the boy. "We ask her for help, I guess" the little boy said shrugging his shoulders. Agatha could see his wrist now; there was a circle with what looked like a rat on the inside. A Morpher, Agatha thought, what is a Morpher and Greenthumb doing together? They hate each other. There had always been feuds between those bloods. In this town there was a lot of tension between the two. The boy cleared his throat before turning to Agatha and asking, "Can you give us good fortune to run away together?"  
Agatha just stared at the little boy. What does he expect me to do, the most I could do would be to look into their future? If either of their parents found out, she could get into some big trouble. No one trusted Fortune Tellers with children, "they're too impressionable" is what everybody would say. Agatha didn’t say anything at first. The boy and girl looked at each other confused, the girl looked a little scared. "Uh… I am not sure… that I can help you with that, all I could do would be to read your future..." Agatha’s voice trailed off.  
"Carmen said that we were Romeo and Juliet because we're in love but our families hate each other-" The girl said. "And when the lady told us you could help us, we got really excited." the boy interjected. "She told us about your secret." Secret Agatha thought, What Secret? And what lady? "She said that you could bend our karma-" the boy started saying. "But we won't tell anyone" the girl said, "We promised!" The boy nodded his head in agreement.  
“First of all, who is this lady that told you this?” Agatha asked, probably one of the girls downstairs, they always seemed mad at her for something.  
“The blonde lady, she didn’t say her name, just that she was your friend,” The boy started, “We were in the corner of the café down the street. We were keeping to ourselves and trying not to be noticed because we shouldn’t be seen together. Then this lady came over, and at first I thought she was the waitress, but she wasn’t. She asked us what was troubling us.”  
“We were really confused at that,” the girl interjected.  
“Yeah, so we said we didn’t have a problem.” The boy continued. “Then she took our hands-“  
“And you blushed,” the girl interrupted giggling a little.  
“I did not!” the boy said defensively, “anyways,” he said turning to Agatha before the girl could reply again, “she said that if we wanted out problem fixed then we should see a Karma Witch about it.” The girl nodded in agreement. “We said we didn’t know any Karma Witches, and that’s when she told us about your secret and where you live.”  
Agatha thought about their story for a little before saying, "I don't know how to change karma, sorry, but I will read it for you." She tried to sound positive or sympathetic, but this all sounded ridiculous. Who would lead these kids on like this, and get their hopes up so much?  
"But she said that you could change it-" The girl cried.  
"Bend it!" the boy corrected, "she made it clear that all you do is bend it and mold it, can you at least do that?" They looked up at her with hopeful eyes.  
"Well first of all, I wouldn't want to be like Romeo and Juliet, if I were you. It doesn't have the happiest ending, not that romantic if you want to live." The two gave her confused looks.  
“But I thought it was a love-’” the girl started  
"Alright, I'll try my best." Agatha said cutting the girl off, not really wanting to go into Shakespeare at the moment. Sitting on the floor, she motioned to the kids, "Sit next to me and give me your hands." They sat next to her and held her hands then held each other's with their free hands. This looks like a prayer circle. She focused on the girl first, sitting to her right. She saw the girl with five older brothers. She was hiding in a cupboard crying, while the brothers were trying to find her. "Come her Em," she could hear one say, "We just want to play with you." Em tried to hold her breath and quiet her crying as one of the brothers walked past, but she wasn't quiet enough. He pulled her out form the cupboard. He looked to be several years older. "No-" She started to say, "its okay Em, we're just going to play in the garden." "Please, Jason-" Em pleaded, but Jason just covered her mouth as he half carried half dragged her outside to a greenhouse at the other side of the yard. The other brothers joined them in there. "You know the rules, Em" the oldest boy told her. "If you get free in time, you'll be okay." he patted her on her head while she curled up on the floor crying, "What shall it be today?" he asked the other boys. "Poison Ivy!" the youngest boy said, "Make it poison Ivy, Carson!" The others all nodded in agreement. "Okay, Poison Ivy it is!" Carson said as he and Jason lifted Em onto one of the empty garden beds. Carson held her down while the other brothers grew roots around her wrists and ankles. "If you can get free of the roots in time then you will be safe!" Carson told Em. She lay in the dirt, but had stopped crying, she’s out of tears. With that, the other boys raised some poison ivy around her and sprinkled some red dirt on it. It started to grow, slowly but steadily. She would only have about twenty minutes before it reached her. "We'll be inside" Jason told her. They left her alone in the dirt her tied to the bed by roots, Poison Ivy growing all around her. She's fighting, trying to retract the roots. Now Agatha sees Em telling her father that she was playing with Poison Ivy, and that's how she got the rash all over. She's covering for her brothers, afraid of retaliation.  
Agatha can feel the tears burning down her face. She decided to change to the boy, focusing on her left. She sees his first time transforming, and his disappointment at being a rat. He came from a family of bears, but he was a rat. That's when he learns that he had a different mother then his other siblings. He's a bastard. She sees another time where he is playing with his brothers and sisters and they are teasing him about being a rat, but he morphs and they lose him. He teases them back by running up and nipping at their heels. He seems to have a better relationship with his siblings. He's not as lonely. The boy, Ned, is popular amongst his peers at school. But he's still somewhat lonely. Everyone at school seems to love him. Everyone except him. They tease him about being a rat, but they mean it in good humor. She sees that one day during lunch, he steals away to eat behind one of the trailer classrooms at his school. That's where he first meets Em. They had been in each other's classes all through their schooling, but had never really talked. He sits next to her, but she is shying away from him. He notices bruises on her wrists.  
Agatha starts to focus on both of their karma. She learned about their friendship. They’re in the seventh grade now, and Ned continues with the popular kids and Em continues by herself, but in the dark they are best friends. They have to sneak around about being friends because they are from different parts of town separated by their blood’s magic.  
Agatha opens her eyes, and sees the two sitting just like they were when they first started. No time has passed this whole time, Agatha realized. Now comes the tricky part. Reading pasts are easy, but looking into their future karma is more difficult. She focuses her energy and can feel their karma. Its a few months down the road. She sees Em's house. It's raining, she can smell its freshness, but there is something else, something tainting the clean smell. Fear, Agatha realizes. In the house Em's father is talking to her and telling her to do away with Ned, but Em will have none of it. "Well I can't have a child that is associating with a Morpher and brings down the reputation of this whole household." "I love him, and there is nothing you-" Em says. "Then go, go to your love because you have to choose him or us. You can't have both." Then her father leaves the room. Em wants to cry but can't, She's out of tears. Carson walks into her room. "Heard the news Em, you're no longer one of us," Carson stares at the floor. "We have something before you leave. Carson smiles at her. "I'd better just go, I-" "Come on," Carson grabs her arm and leads her out near the greenhouse. The rain is pouring and pounding down on them. The thunder is deafening. In the greenhouse the other brothers are waiting. They all leave the greenhouse, walking farther away from the house, up onto a hill. Something is very wrong here. The thunder is deafening and Agatha can't hear what everyone is saying, but Jason is pounding a metal pole into the ground and the other brothers are tying her to it. The brother's run down the hill to get away from the pole. They've built a lightning rod. Agatha's stomach tightens, and she feels a little sick. She tries to pull her energy away to another part of their karma, but is too late and still sees lightning strike the pole and Em's final scream. She moves over to Ned, he's just heard the news. The storm is still going, and Ned runs out into it, racing to Em's house. As he nears he morphs into a rat to stay hidden. He searches around until he finally sees her at the top of the hill. He morphs back to a human and races up the hill. He tries to wake Em, but she's gone. There is nothing that she can do. He's crying at the top of the hill, hugging her body. This is turning into Romeo and Juliet, Carmen was right. She watches in horror as Ned runs to the greenhouse finding a poison bloom and goes back up to Em's body before ingesting the juice from the poison bloom. She sees him writhing on the ground in pain, never letting go of Em's limp hand, until his hands also fall limp.  
Agatha gasped and let go of their hands. Ned was staring at her with a hopeful look on his face, but Agatha could see fear on Em’s face. “Did you fix it, did you bend the karma?” Ned asked her. Agatha looked at their faces, thinking of their lifeless bodies on the hill. What do I do Agatha thought to herself.  
Bend it. “I haven’t, uh, gotten to that part yet.” Agatha picked up their hands again and felt the energy flowing through them. This time when she looked into the future she tried to force herself to think of the good in these kids karma. Think of Em being tied to the earth and Poison Ivy growing on her. Think of Ned’s help and bringing happiness to an empty life. She could feel something, she could feel the karma changing. No, bending, not changing. I have to bend it, mold it. She started to see it, a better future. Their love stays hidden until they are older, but then it shifts into an almost identical ending as the other one. I have to bend it more. Agatha breathed deeply trying to mold the karma. This time she forces it to the summer before their junior year in high school. That’s as far as I can make the hiding last. Agatha’s brother had seen them together at the ice cream shop. They were nervous knowing that their joy wasn’t to last much longer. Run, she was thinking, run. They race to Ned’s house. Ned’s Mom seems excited to see that Ned has brought a girl home, until she sees Em’s wrist. The Mom reaches for her wrist for a better look, but Em flinches and backs into a corner. Agatha could see the mother’s eyes turn from anger to pity. Ned’s mother asks Ned what was happening. Ned reluctantly tells his mother about their long, hidden friendship. The mother listens, urging him on. Em is at his side crying, but when Ned reaches his arm around her she calms down a little. After a few minutes the Mom gets up and grabs her purse. Digging around she finds her debit card and $50 in cash. She tells Ned to pack some stuff and run to his grandmother’s house. “She’ll keep you safe, and her town doesn’t have a feud like this one.” Ned packs some of his things, and the Mom packs some of Ned’s sister’s old clothes. “These should fit you,” she tells Em, giving her a hug. Em hugs her back and cries on her until Ned comes to find them. Ned’s mother kisses them both goodbye, and cries as she watches them drive off in his older sister’s car.  
Agatha opened her eyes. It was starting to get dark outside. How long did that take? Em was asleep next to her and Ned was close to it. Ned saw her eyes open. “Is it done?” he asked her. She could hear the tiredness in his voice. This takes their energy as much as it takes my own. He sounded hopeful still.  
“I think so.” I really hope so.


	2. Giovanni

Giovanni liked New Canada better than running around Europe. He had been on the run ever since he accidently set fire to his town in the south of France. He had finally decided to move out of Europe, however his blood got tested when he got to New York, and they had labeled him as a Pyromancer, branded him then shipped him off to New Canada. His wrist had hurt for a couple months before the pain subsided. He had a black ball of flames forever marked on his wrist.   
He thankfully he had a lot of money still saved up from his odd jobs around Europe. This town was the second place he had lived in New Canada, but he figured that this cold would work better for him and keep him cooler. He still awoke many nights to the smell of smoke from starting on burn his blankets. He had learned long ago that the safest thing to sleep on was a water bed. He had problems sleeping, and he dreamed of his town in the south of France… and of her. Sandra had been his best friend ever since they could walk. Sandra had no magic in her blood, but she still loved him when she learned that he was cursed with fire. Giovanni hated his magic blood. If he was a normal human, she would still be alive along with most of his neighbors. They had finally decided to take their relationship and love further, but the heat of sex brought on his own heat. He roasted her alive, and in fear and grief set the house on fire. The fire, fueled by his fear and anger, spread quickly over the town until he ran. He had watched the town burn from atop a nearby hill. He vowed to never let himself be as foolish to love another woman unless she could live through the fire. He hadn’t met many other Pyromancers, and the only girl ones that he had met had been over twice his age.   
Settling down into New Canada had been difficult at first, but as long as he kept to himself he didn’t have any problems. He was bored more often than not, and had taken up running. He ran all over town and sometimes out of the town on the country roads. He thought about getting a dog, he had always wanted a Doberman pinscher though he didn’t know where to find one. When he went to the animal shelter they told him that a Pyromancer was not a suitable owner for a pet. Maybe I could get someone to adopt one for me. Giovanni thought. I bet I can get the girl across the hall to do it, Agatha, I think. She had been nicer than the other people in the building. The guy in the basement was very cold to him in the one conversation they had. The three other girls were nice, but they only liked him because they thought he was attractive. They often asked him over, and one girl had asked if he could be a stripper at her party. Agatha didn’t seem to want him like that. She knew about Sandra and all the fire, he just knew it, somehow she knows. He felt it when they talked. She is a Fortune Reader. Everyone knew that Fortune Readers could also look into your past, it’s how they read the future.   
One day he was out for a run when he was stopped by a young man who looked to be around his age. He had blonde hair that seemed to perfectly sweep to the right of his face, occasionally falling in front of his face. He had bright blue eyes and seemed to look the embodiment of perfection. Even his voice sounded perfect. Giovanni wasn’t gay, but he would be for this man. When he saw the man’s wrist he understood why. His mark was flower with a sun shape rising behind it, the mark of a Siren. Sirens were one of the rarest blood types there was. Most of them had been killed off when the non-magic blooded decided to overthrow their magic blooded leaders. Sirens could make people do just about anything if they knew how to use their magic right. They always looked perfect and sounded perfect. Most of the time when someone was discovered to be a Siren they had their tongue cut out to decrees their danger. This man did not seem to have anything done to him by the non-magic bloods except for his brand. “We don’t see that many Pyromnacers around here,” the man said, flashing him a perfect smile.  
“I like the colder weather,” Giovanni said. They have less power when you’re aware of their influence he tried to remind himself, but it was hard not to stop and talk to him. I should just keep running, but he had lost any will to walk away from the man.   
The man let out a laugh. Even that sounds perfect. “I’m Thor,” the man said, “a pleasure to meet such a fine looking Pyromancer.” He held his hand out to Giovanni. Giovanni could feel himself blush. Don’t let him gain enough influence, but he could feel himself losing his freewill.   
“My name is Giovanni,” Giovanni said shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you as well.” I should leave, I don’t want any trouble. He just wants something from me, he isn’t actually interested in me. The man’s clear blue eyes seemed alive and full of laughter. “Can I help you?” Giovanni heard himself say. This man is powerful, that must be why he seems mostly untouched by the non-magic bloods.   
“I’ve just never known a Pyromancer before and thought it’s be nice to get to know you.” Thor said, playfully punching Giovanni on his arm. “Wow, you are hot, I can feel your heat,” Thor said, “and your muscle.” He said feeling Giovanni’s biceps smiling. He’s winning, Giovanni thought, I must fight this. Giovanni closed his eyes, trying to think clearly.  
“What do you want?” Giovanny asked Thor, “I’m not liking talking to strangers much.” The smile disappeared on Thor’s face. He doesn’t like losing control. Giovanni could feel his self-control returning.   
“I want what I told you, I want to get to know a Pyromancer.” Thor said, his smile returning to his face. “Having a Pyromancer as a friend has to have some benefits, it’d be nice to have someone strong at my back, if you get my meaning.” Thor winked. By then, though, Giovanni was starting to feel more like himself, but still blushed from Thor’s implication. “You see, my sister and I are in some need of help. We were thinking that a Pyromancer would make a good addition to our team.”  
“What team?” Giovanni asked. The Siren’s power had nearly faded completely away, but he was interested in what Thor was talking about. “And why would you need a Pyromancer?”  
Thor smiled, “because we could use some brute strength and fire,” Giovanni wasn’t sure what to think of that. “I think that we both know that you have a lot of fire in you.” Thor said getting a serious look on his face. “It was pretty easy to connect a French Pyromancer to some certain fires in France.” How does he know? Giovanni could tell that Thor saw the fear in his face by the way that he smiled at him. He doesn’t know, he can’t. This is another trick to trap me. “We might also be able to help you with future loves.” I didn’t regain control, he let go, Giovanni realized. Thor touched Giovanni’s arm. “There is a Karma Witch that would be able to help you, and I’m sure that a handsome man like yourself would have no problem with asking for help from a young lady. In fact, you have already met this young lady, a certain girl named Agatha.” Agatha, my neighbor is a Karma Witch. I guess she’s a Fortune Reader, and a Fortune Reader is just a simple karma witch. “With the right adjustment you might just be able to have sex without roasting someone alive.” Thor’s face was serious now, and Giovanni could see the pity in his eyes. “If you’re interested in helping us, the first thing you could do would be to ask her for help, and she will need your help in return. She’ll need to be reminded a little about how to adjust your karma. Just ask her to mold your power better into your control. She’s stronger than she thinks. Then after you are done it would be helpful for us to have an inside man on trying to get her on our team too.” Thor started walking away.   
“How will I find you again?” Giovanni asked him.   
“Oh don’t worry, we’re always nearby.” What does he mean by that? Giovanni didn’t know what to say or do. His head was spinning a little, how did he know all this about me? Giovanni felt naked and scared. He was always careful to cover his tracks and to keep his past a secret. He had never met anyone that had talked to him like that before. He continued on his run. His thoughts turned to Agatha. He had never talked to her much, but he felt like she would be trustworthy. Something inside him told him that she would be able to help and understand. Or is this feeling planted by the Siren. A Karma Witch… Just last week he had seen a young boy and girl leaving her place thanking her for her help, saying something about their futures safer or something. They were talking too fast for Giovanni to fully understand them. He had seen several people since then leaving her place thanking her for help. Is she practicing from her apartment? She could get into a lot of trouble if she was caught. Karma Witches were treated as bad as Sirens if they were found to have enough power. It was said that they were most often killed when they were found to have enough power to affect someone’s lives. Simple Future Readers were left alone, but if they had more power they were taken away or killed. It’s worth a try. Giovanni thought. He was walking in the entry way when one of the girls that lived below him stopped him.   
“Hey Giovanni,” she said. “How was your run?” she was twirling her hair with her finger and he could feel her eyeing him. Giovanni shifted uncomfortably. I think her name is Shannon. Giovanni thought. She was a Morpher, he could see it on her wrist. A cougar head in a circle. A cougar, ha! Giovanni thought. Maybe I should start wearing shirts when I run. Giovanni felt uncomfortable at the way she was eyeing him.   
“It went well, thank you.” He said going to walk past her.   
She grabbed his arm and stopped him. “I’m having a little party tonight, if you’d like to come?” she asked. He could feel her grip on his arm and it made him especially uncomfortable the way that she was staring at him. He nodded his head and shook his arm free before going up the stairs up to his apartment. As he reached the top of the stairs he ran into an old man walking down the stairs.   
“She’s a miracle worker,” the man said, raising his hands in the air. “I’m free.” Giovanni saw the mark for a Corpusacuo, a skin worker. Most often they were healers, but they could change the way someone looked if they knew how to use their magic well enough. Someone with that blood could have an easy time getting a visa out of here. Some of them even made a lot of money and a name for themselves in the rest of the world. They made great plastic surgeons and even better doctors. The old man seemed to dance down the steps. What is he free from?   
Agatha was standing at her door watching the old man. She waved at him and greeted him friendly before going back into her apartment. She looked tired. Back in his own apartment Giovanni stripped down to his boxers and lay on his couch. He was always so hot. He even had the cooler on in his apartment most of the time. It would be nice to have more control over my heat. I haven’t had much luck with it ever since that night with Sandra. Giovanni turned on his TV to see if anything good was on, but nothing seemed of interest. He looked around at all the mess in his apartment. Clothes were all over the floor and the dishes were piling up in the sink. I might as well clean, I don’t have anything better to do. He never did, he never had anything to do. I wonder what I would be doing if I joined their “team.” Giovanni turned on music while he cleaned.   
Doctor, doctor, need you back home, baby  
Doctor, doctor, where ya at? Give me something  
I need your love, I need your love, I need your loving  
You got that kind of medicine that keeps me coming  
My body needs a hero, come and save me  
Something tells me you know how to save me  
I've been feeling real low, oh I need you  
Come and rescue me  
He remembered that night, the way it felt to hold Sandra. The taste of her mouth and the feeling of complete connection. He wished he could hold her again, feel her brush his hair from in front of his face.  
Make me come alive, come on and turn me on  
Touch me, save my life, come on and turn me on  
I'm too young to die, come on and turn me on  
Turn me on, turn me on, turn me on, turn me on  
He longed to hold any woman. He stopped cleaning the dishes and just sat at the table. Maybe it would be worth the try. The idea of staying celibate for the rest of his life distressed him. It’s worth a try.   
Make me come alive, come on and turn me on  
Touch me, save my life, come on and turn me on  
I'm too young to die, come on and turn me on  
Turn me on, turn me on, turn me on, turn me on  
I can do this, He thought. I’ll talk to Agatha. He wanted to love again to connect with another human and share your life with them, but that wasn’t possible if he couldn’t control his fire. Maybe Nicki Minaj is helping me feel this, but I think I can do it. Giovanni threw on some shorts and a loose tank-top. He walked across the hall and knocked on her door.   
Agatha looked surprised to see him, “Giovanni, how are you?” she asked. She looks tired, I wonder if being a Karma Witch is doing this to her. She did look tired. She had bags under her eyes, her hair was tied into a messy bun behind her head, but strands of it were popping out.   
“I am just having some questions for you?” He asked her. He was always painfully aware of his thick accent. People told him it was cute, but he thought it was embarrassing. People would laugh when he said a word funny, but he didn’t think it funny or cute.   
“Oh, sure thing, would you like to come in?” She asked. Maybe I should wait. She open her door to let him in. Too late now. He walked in and sat on her couch. The room was messy. There were papers and mugs everywhere. Her house smelled strongly of coffee. She sat on the opposite end of the couch.  
“If now is a bad time, I can come later or tomorrow.” He told her, not wanting to add to her troubles. She looks tired.   
“No, it’s okay. Now works fine. Would you like some coffee?” she asked standing up and walking to her kitchen. “I have Hazelnut or French Vanilla.” He could see her through a little window in the wall between the kitchen and living room. “I’ve been completely living off of coffee lately. Haven’t been able to sleep lately.” She said as she washed two mugs. “Oh, I also have caramel.”  
“Hazelnut works fine.” He told her. How is this going to work, what will she do to me to fix me? He was lost in thought and didn’t even notice that she had come back with a mug full of coffee for him.   
“Are you alright?” she asked him, looking concerned. She flinched a little as she sipped her coffee and burnt her tongue. “Ow, this happens all the time, I can hardly feel my tongue anymore.” She said with a little laugh. She’s actually beautiful if you see her right. She’s just covered up under this mess and fatigue.   
“So, I was needing your help with something.” He said sipping his coffee. It didn’t burn his tongue, he had felt a lot worse heat then this before. The coffee was really strong though and he grimaced a little at the bitterness of it.   
“Did you burn your tongue?” she asked, “Or I guess you can’t burn your tongue. I make the coffee pretty strong because I need the energy, and I can hardly taste it anyways.” She said, trying another sip of her coffee, she made a face as she burnt her tongue again. She set her coffee aside. “So how can I help you?”  
“I am told that you are a Karma Witch.” Giovanni said. She made no response to that, “I am needing some help with my karma and my fire. I was told that you can help me control my fire so that I can…” his voice trailed off.   
“What do you mean control your fire?” she asked.  
“I burn things on accident.”   
“Alright she said, come sit next to me, and face me.” He slid down the couch next to her. She picked up his hands, and he blushed a little, cursing at himself while for doing it. She closed her eyes, and at first Giovanni thought she had fallen asleep, but then he felt it in his hands, there was energy passing between their hands. She opened her eyes. “I’m sorry about your town. A lot of people have similar stories about killing loved ones and then being shipped off to here.” She closed her eyes again, and he could feel his eyes stinging. No, I will not cry, he thought, but tears started to creep down his face. She didn’t seem to care what I did. Not like other people I’ve told that called me a monster or they became afraid. They sat on the couch for a while, he could feel his energy being drained, it takes my energy as much as hers. By the time she finally opened her eyes, he was about to fall asleep. She looked even worse. “I think I fixed it for you.” She said.   
“Thank you,” he said, but she seemed to have fallen asleep. He let himself out and went back over to his apartment. How will I know if it worked? He was shivering from the cold. What temperature is it in here? He thought. He went over to the thermostat to turn it up. I’m shivering, he thought, I’m shivering! “Whooop!” he shouted. The cold felt so nice, he had forgotten what it was like. He danced around his room, before he remembered that the girl downstairs was having a party. Maybe I’ll actually go this time, and I won’t have to worry about my heat.


	3. Lydia

Lydia was sobbing into her pillow so that her dad wouldn’t hear and try to talk to her. If Kaylan was here he would know what to say. Her big brother had always looked out for her, and had always been there to save her. Not anymore, she thought bitterly. But I’m old enough now, I’m eighteen, I could leave if I wanted to. She knew that her parents kept a safety cash box on top of the cupboards. She didn’t know if it was still there, after the divorce. She knew that she could take that money and be halfway to New Canada before they realized she was gone. There was a lot of distance between New Canada and Arizona. She would head towards the gate into New Canada by the northern border to Nebraska. They would expect her to go to the one that split Wyoming in half, but she would fool them. She knew the name of the city he lived in. They had been emailing each other every once and a while, but they had to be sneaky about it. He just gave him up, his own son. Their father had just let the MBP take him to New Canada and hadn’t said anything in protest. Their mother had been in her room crying, she couldn’t bear the sight of them taking her son away, but Lydia had watched. As they were leading him out the door she ran up to hug him a last time, screaming hysterically asking them to not take him. One of the men had backhanded her across the face and she fell over from the force of it. ”Don’t worry Lyds, I’ll be fine.” He had said to her. Her father hadn’t even come to help her stand back up, he just stood there solemnly, not even looking at Lydia. Everything had changed after they took Kaylan. That was two years, seven months, and four days ago. She had kept track. He had been her only friend, and she’d had to live without him for two and a half years. They had tested the whole family’s blood when they found out that he was a Reliquimuto. Kaylan was technically her step-brother, but his mom had left him with their dad after he was born. Her dad claimed it was postpartum depression. I bet he let her go, just like he let them take Kaylan. Her dad had told her that it was safer for the community to send Kaylan to New Canada. Lydia guessed that it wasn’t Kaylan’s fault that his first wife had left him. When Lydia was about five and Kaylan was eight, his mother had returned to take Kaylan. She had married a rich stockbroker and decided that she wanted to give Kaylan a better life. They took it all to court and eventually their Dad won, but Kaylan would see his Mom every other weekend. She had come the first weekend, and took him to Disneyland. Kaylan told her all about it when he came back, filling her with inspiring tales of princesses and rollercoasters. “Maybe next time she can take you too!” Kaylan had told her. Only there was never a next time. She never came back. She never even tried to contact Kaylan ever again. Since that day Lydia’s mother had been his too, though she had never stopped treating him as her true son since she first married their Dad.  
When their Dad had found out that Kaylan’s birthmother had been tested and proved to have magic blood he drove Kaylan straight to the Magic-Blood Protectors, MBP. They tested him that day and by then end of the week he was gone. He was told he could still communicate with his family, but their father had told her and her mother that they were not allowed to talk to him at all, that he was no longer one of them. He told them that he had been born from the sin of fornication and he never should have been part of the family. Her Mom had hated her Dad ever since, and they were talking of getting a divorce now. They were waiting till she turned eighteen and graduated from high school so they didn’t have to fight over child-custody. Lydia would rather live with her mother, but her mother was moving all the way to Florida back to Lydia’s grand-parents’ house. Lydia had told her mother that she wanted to go to New Canada to find Kaylan, but she was just told to put that notion out of her head. She had applied and already registered for a college in Northern Idaho, but she figured that if she was lonely here, she would be lonely everywhere else. She wanted to find Kaylan.   
Over the next week her parent’s divorce was finalized and her mother had left for Florida. She had hardly seen her Dad since. He spent all his time at work and when he wasn’t at work he was praying. Lydia didn’t know what there was that her Dad had to pray about, but she hated him for it. She hated him for everything he did. When he had left Kaylan out of the family, he left her out too. That night there was sprinkling rain and promises of storms. Lydia still had a month before she was to move to Idaho. She didn’t have any friends here, after they took Kaylan everyone looked at her different. She was the girl with a magic-blooded brother. She got teased about having magic in her blood too, and some people told the teachers such convincing stories of her that she had been retested nine times. All she did was watch Netflix, read or play a video game in Kaylan’s old room. Her father had refused to enter the room after they took Kaylan. Her mother used to go in there to cry, but had left all of his stuff where it was at. There was still a book, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, sitting on the bedside table. When Lydia was feeling especially lonely, she would sleep in there.   
Lydia’s stomach growled, letting her know how hungry she was. She had to fend for herself ever since her mother left. She did all the shopping, and cooked for herself. Her Dad had given her his card to pay for groceries. Tonight she fixed herself a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She didn’t feel like making anything hard. She had just finished making her sandwich and was on the way back up the steps when she could hear yelling from her Dad’s room. She snuck over to the door to listen, she was standing two feet from the door and could hear him clearly. “No, Gene!” He’s arguing with Mom, I would have thought that her moving out would put an end to all their yelling. There was a break in conversation which meant that her Mom must be talking. “No! You left her here with me. What am I supposed to do? You know that we can’t stand each other.” Lydia’s stomach started to twist. “I don’t care if she’s my daughter, she’s her own woman now, remember, she’s eighteen.” He’s talking about me. Lydia could fill tears starting to fill her eyes. She seemed to have an endless amount of tears these days. “KAYLAN?!” her father roared, “I would rather send her to you then send her to Kaylan. You are not to mention that kids name to me!” That was enough for Lydia to hear. She ran upstairs and started to pack. She heard the door slam and her father’s car drive away. He’s going to pray. He’d be gone for hours. Lydia finished packing and took her stuff to her car. She had already gotten a passport a long time ago, preparing for this trip, for this moment. All she had to do was get tested at the border again then get a signature and she was in. She got in her car and started it. Wait, she turned off her car and went inside. She took the safety cash from above the cupboards, $1300? That’s for sure get me to New Canada. Then another idea occurred to her. She went to the computer and opened a document and typed, Kaylan, in big letters, then she printed out thirty of those papers, the last few were hard to see because the printer was running out of ink. Then she went around the house taping the papers up everywhere. She hid some so he wouldn’t find them all at once. Some of them he may not even find for weeks. Then for one last emphasis, she went to the garage and got a can of spray paint, and wrote, I love Kaylan, on the front of the house. That’ll make a great sight for the neighbors tomorrow. She stood there for a moment enjoying the moment. That felt wonderful to get out, I wish I had more time.   
With that, she got into her car and headed on her way north. She drove for hours before she finally got too tired to drive and stopped in a small town, Roosevelt, Utah. Roosevelt was a nice looking town. The lady at the receptionist desk for the hotel even told her the easiest way to New Canada. She didn’t even question Lydia. She spent a few hours after waking up watching TV in her room. She was flipping through the channels when something on the news caught her eye. There was a reporter talking about a violent storm in the north of New Canada. It was just north of some lake and was heading south. The reporter was interviewing a meteorologist, and the man was talking about the peculiar nature of the storm. He was saying that the magics in New Canada were up to something, and that the governments needed to take action. “That is not a naturally caused storm!” the meteorologist stated. “There is going to be problems if we do not immediately take actions.” Lydia turned to TV off. I wonder what that’s about. By the time she was checking out she had forty-three missed calls from her Dad and even some from her Mom. She didn’t even try to listen to the voicemails. Then she headed back on her way. I should have gotten a book on tape, she thought. The drive had been exhilarating at first, but after the first hour it just became a boring, seemingly endless, drive. She blasted her music and sang along, but after a while she started losing her voice and just drove. After another several hours of driving she reached Denver, Colorado and decided to stop for a little while. Denver’s a big city, her father wouldn’t find her here. She checked into another hotel deciding to continue her drive the next day and have a day to enjoy her freedom and to do something other than drive. She got another call, this one from her Mom. I should answer for her at least.   
“Hello? Mom?” Lydia asked   
All Lydia hear was soft sobbing before her Mom said, “Lydia! My girl! Where are you? Are you okay? I was so worried!” Lydia felt sick to the stomach all of sudden.  
“I’m okay Mom. I’m fine. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls…” Lydia was unsure of what to say to her.  
There was silence on the phone for a second before her Mom asked, “Are you going to Kaylan?”   
“Yes,” Lydia answered softly.   
“Your Dad assumed so. He said you left papers with his name all over,” her Mom said, “And painted on the front of the house.” Her Mom laughed. “It made it pretty obvious what you were doing… He’s really mad. He’s blaming me, but I told him he was the dumb-ass that disowned your best friend.” Lydia’s mother started sounding better. “You took the cash stash above the cupboard?”   
“Yeah-“  
“Good, don’t use his card anymore. He knows that you’re in Denver.” Lydia’s stomach tightened in fear. “But he doesn’t know where, and as far as I know, he hasn’t left Arizona, not until he knows more. I’d suggest you not use his card unless it’s an immediate emergency. Use my card that I gave you.”  
“Mom, are you helping me?” Lydia asked, relieved that her mother wasn’t chewing her out.  
“I saw the change in you after they took him, and I’ll never forgive your father for what he did to my children. I can’t openly help you, but he doesn’t know about the card I gave you and I’ll try to put money on it when you can. Tell Kaylan that I love him.”  
“I will,” Lydia said, getting a little choked up. “I love you Mom.”  
“I love you too Lyds.”   
Lydia cried in her room for a little before she decided to go and get something to eat. There was a small café down the street from her hotel where she decided to eat dinner. When she went in it was completely empty aside from a couple of old ladies eating in the corner. The server looked bored out of his mind. He brightened up when he saw her. “How might I be of assistance to such a beautiful young lady this evening?” He had hazel eyes and brown hair that he had spiked up in the front. Ben, read the golden nametag on his shirt. Lydia had a hard time focusing on anything other than him. He looked no much older than her, he was probably around Kaylan’s age. I’m glad I chose this café. “How many tonight, my lady?” he gave her a little bow.  
“Just one,” Lydia said awkwardly. She suddenly felt a lot more conscious of her being alone. Ben just smiled and showed her to her seat. It was a nice seat by a window that looked into the street. It was cloudy, and looked like it was going to rain. I’ve had enough rain, I’m ready for sunshine. That’s one of the things she loved about Arizona, was the Sun, but her whole trip she’d been driving in on and off rain.  
“Anything to drink?” he asked her.   
“Yes, um… Iced tea?” she said hesitantly.   
“I’ll have that right out.” He said flashing her a smile before disappearing into the café’s kitchen. He’s hot. I wonder if he’s single. When Ben returned he had two drinks with him. He set one in front of her and then slid into the seat opposite her.   
“Business is slow,” he said smiling, “I hope it’s okay if I sit with you.”   
“That’s totally fine!” she said, trying not to sound too excited, “then I don’t have to eat in the café all alone.” She sipped from her tea. “What do you recommend here?” she asked him, looking at the menu.   
“Well Deloris, over there,” he said pointing to the old ladies in the corner, “is pretty fun from what I hear.” He pointed to the other woman, “But I would probably recommend Catherine, she’s pretty rich.” Ben said, smiling at her. She laughed and he just laughed with her.   
“Neither really look to my taste,” Lydia smiled back at him. “Not quite my type.” Ben smiled at her and she could see his dimples. She blushed. “Anything on the menu to recommend?”  
“Oh! You were talking about food?” he said laughing, “Well now I feel embarrassed.” He teased her. “If you want food then that’s easy, order the chicken, Jonah, the cook on duty today, isn’t very good at hamburgers.” He made a face as if he as disgusted. Lydia laughed at how funny it was.  
“Okay, I’ll take that.” He stayed and talked with her through her whole dinner. No one else came in, so he didn’t have to do anything. By the time she was done it was time for the café to close. She stayed and they talked while he cleaned up.   
“So you’re running from your Dad?” ben asked after seeing her phone light up with another call, “Did he put GPS on your phone?”  
Fear gripped Lydia’s stomach. Oh no! “I completely forgot about that! That’s how he knew I was in Denver.” she cried. “What do I do?” she asked Ben.  
“He already knew you’re in Denver?” Ben asked.  
“Yeah, my Mom told me he knew.”  
“Have no fear, Ben is here to save the day,” he said, “I have a great idea.” He took her to the Walmart across the street. Back in the technology section he showed her some no contract phones where you pay for your minutes. She bought the cheapest one. On the way out she stopped by an ATM and took out as much as she could. She handed the card to a homeless lady outside the store asking for money.   
“The code is 4536.” She told the lady, “Don’t know how much is left on it, but go crazy.” Ben found that really amusing. He has a beautiful laugh, and he laughs all the time. Lydia kept reminding herself that she had to leave Denver soon, but couldn’t stop daydreaming about her and Ben. Ben drover her to his friend’s house where the friend transferred the contacts from her old phone to the new one, and then drove her to a busy gas station.   
“I feel like a secret agent on a special mission,” she told Ben.   
Ben laughed. “Watch this,” Ben said with a mischievous smile. He walked past a minivan from Minnesota, the trunk was open as a lady was digging around trying to find something. A bag fell on the ground and Ben picked it up for her. She heard the lady thank Ben and then he told her that it was no problem. He came back over to her. “Well,” he said, “Your phone is on its way to Minnesota.”   
“Thank you!” she told Ben, giving him a hug. Ben leaned down and kissed her and she was kissing him back. Before she knew it they were in her hotel room. The world was spinning and she felt drunk off of joy. This was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her. He was kissing her neck. She loved the way his hands felt on body, and the way that he looked at her. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”  
“Like what?” he asked pausing for a second.  
“Sex,” she told him, blushing.   
“Oh,” he said, “well is this alright with you, we don’t have do this if you don’t want to.”  
“No,” she told him, “This is perfect.” leaning forward to kiss him.   
“Good,” he said.  
The next morning she woke with him still next to her. She slid over to him and laid her head on his chest. She could feel his chest slowly rising and falling. He was still asleep. “I love you Ben.” She whispered.


	4. Liliana

“Does it always hurt this much?” Liliana asked. The blinding pain in her wrist was almost unbearable, though it wasn’t as bad as when they had actually branded her.  
“Usually,” Marlon said, “If you were branded after 2002.” She couldn’t watch him work, she wasn’t one for blood, but she had little choice. She needed her brand covered if she wanted to get past security at the airport.   
“What happened in 2002?” she asked him. Trying to distract herself.  
“They started using a different solution for the brands. They were having a hard time stopping the Corpusacuo from removing brands. Now it’s only possible to temporarily remove a brand. It’s last for about a month at tops.” He said. His response sounded rehearsed, as if he had said it a million times. “I was branded in 1999, when I was nine. It’s easy to hide mine.” Liliana whimpered a little at an especially painful burning on her wrist. “I spent most of my recent years learning about brands. I even talked to some of the alchemists that make the solution for it. They had no idea of my blood, or else they would have never told me.” Liliana decided to study Marlon while he worked. He was short, they were about the same size, and she was only five foot four. He had bushy eyebrows, and dark brown eyes. He had curly brown hair, but he kept it fairly short. He’s really cute, Liliana thought.   
They had only met a day ago. The man, Thor, had told her to go to a certain motel in a town called Regina. It was in the Saskatchewan area of Canada, before it was turned to New Canada. Marlon had already been there when she arrived. He was to help cover her brand and then in a couple days they were to fly to Boise, Idaho, just outside of New Canada, and from there they were to take three other planes until they were in Perito Moreno, Argentina. Thor had explained that there was something that they were looking for in the mountains nearby. Liliana and Marlon would meet his sister and some other man. Together they were to find something of importance in the mountains. Thor wouldn’t tell them what they were looking for.   
“Are you sure these IDs will work?” she asked Marlon.   
“They should. I’ve used mine for a while, and I’ve never had a problem.” He said. Liliana whimpered again from the pain. “Don’t worry,” he said, “…you seem to handle the pain better than most.” Liliana didn’t know what to say to that so she just nodded, though he wasn’t looking at her to be able to see it. The pain was getting worse. A little while later he was standing in front of her talking, but she didn’t notice until he waved his hand in front of her. “Hello?” he asked her. She jumped, not realizing what was happening. “Go wash your arm in the sink over there, I have filled it with water and a few essential things to make the effect stick. The sink was filled with a thick purple liquid. Liliana hesitantly put her arm into the sink. The pain seemed to instantly vanish.   
“How long do I wash it for?” she asked Marlon.  
“Until your wrist looks unmarked,” he told her. “Keep checking it.”  
It took about five minutes before she was certain that her wrist looked like a normal human’s. By that time the liquid had turned a dark yellow. “What is in this?” she asked Marlon. She found it unsettling that it changed to a completely opposite color.  
“Various herbs, and other things that you probably don’t want to know.” Liliana frowned at him, but he just laughed. “I promise that you would rather be naïve in this.” Liliana looked back at the sink.   
“Can I take a shower?” she asked. Imagining the different things that could be in it. “Or do I have to wait a certain amount of time?”  
Marlon laughed again. “You can take a shower now. The liquid doesn’t leave anything on you. Your arm comes out dry, if you didn’t notice.” I hadn’t noticed that, but that made it seem worse. “I’m ready for dinner, so we can go now, or after you take a shower. Whichever you prefer.” He thinks this whole thing funny, Liliana thought.  
“We’ll go after my shower.” Liliana went to her room, which was connected to Marlon’s by an adjoining door in the wall. The heat in the shower made her wrist ache a little. I hope that doesn’t mean something’s gone wrong with it. I don’t want to go through that whole experience again. After her shower, she tried to blow-dry her hair, but her wrist was aching and the blow-dryer seemed to make it worse even when she kept that hand away from the heat. So she decided to just air-dry it. She turned on the TV while she got dressed and ready. She liked to listen to the news to know what was happening in the world.   
“There has been reports of strange weather just north of The Great Slave Lake.” She heard a lady say. Why should anyone care? No one goes around there anymore. Not since they changed us to New Canada. That region was technically still Canada, but the officials had cleared anyone away from there, and it was nearly impossible to get up there without the government’s consent. There were rumors that Canada had built an underground prison for the people with stronger magic in their blood. Though no one knew for sure. “The government claims that it is nothing, but it seems pretty suspicious, if you ask me.” She heard the reporter say. She heard a knock at the door connecting to Marlon’s room.   
“Come in!” she shouted. She was in the bathroom finishing her make-up. “Is it bad if my wrist still hurts?” she asked Marlon once he had entered the room.   
“No that’s normal. Don’t worry.” He frowned at her when he saw that she wasn’t ready yet, but Liliana pretended not to notice. “It’ll probably hurt for a week.”  
“There have been reports of raging thunderstorms in the area. Though it’s rain falling, instead of snow, and the whole area is turning into ice. Again, the officials say that it is nothing, and that it won’t matter if empty space is frozen, but we have it on good authority that they have been trying to melt the ice that’s quickly forming.”  
“What’s this about?” Marlon asked her when he heard the newswoman.   
“Some crazy weather in the North.” She replied. By then she had finished, and turned off the TV when she came out of the bathroom.   
“Hey, that sounded interesting!” Marlon protested.  
“Were you not just frowning at me for being slow?” she asked him, and could clearly see his annoyance when she said it. “Beside you can just google it later.”   
The café that they were having dinner was nearly empty when they got there. It was a Tuesday night so that wasn’t unusual. The TV in the café was playing the news. It was a different channel, but the same story. “The storm seems to be making its way south. The north end of the lake is already frozen, but it froze during the storm in the violent shapes of the waves.” The TV showed a blurry picture of ice frozen in different shapes and turns.   
“Wow,” Marlon said. “I never heard of weather like this before. And I’m not saying that just because I’m not from around here.” He was attentively watching the news, until some old guy turned it to hockey. Marlon frowned and looked at the menu.  
“Where are you from?” Liliana asked, trying to make some conversation. She didn’t want a repeat of their first dinner where there were about five words spoken.   
“Brazil, originally.” He said, “But like I said, I was branded at nine and have been living in New Canada since.” He said it so nonchalantly that Liliana wondered if he liked living in New Canada. “What about you?”  
“My mother was brought to New Canada when she was pregnant with me, I have lived here my whole life.” Her father had not come with her mother because he did not have magic in his blood. She used to get birthday cards from him every year, until she had found her mother writing one before her birthday. Her father had never even known that she had been born, nor would he even remember her mother. Her mother just wanted Liliana to be excited every birthday. “This will be the first time that I have ever left.” Liliana was an Animamovi, or a wind walker, as they used to be called. But now people just called them wind makers. “Wind Makers aren’t ever given visas. The only way to get out is if you can prove useful to something.”  
“That’s disgusting.” He said frowning.  
“What?” Liliana said, taken aback. What does he have against Animamovi?  
“No, not you, I was saying that it’s disgusting how the only way to get out of New Canada is prove yourself useful to the outside world.”   
“It’d be easy for you to get out.” She told him. I wish it was that easy for me. I would love to see a beach, the ocean, or maybe a desert, a mountain without snow all over it.   
“Yeah, but I don’t want to be let out on a leash. If I got a visa out, I would have to follow strict rules and stuff, but when I sneak out, like we’re about to do, I am a free man.”  
New Canada was established in 1947. The normal blooded humans had been ruling for a while, but there was a war then, that took a large toll in Canada, East Africa, and Western China. That’s where the majority of the fighting was. So after the war, the normal blooded leaders set up new ‘countries’ that were in reality just large prisons for the magic blooded people. Since then, there have been three other countries made. One in Turkey, Eastern Russia, and half of Greenland. There was a lot of controversy when they added the last three. The first three were easily handed over because most every normal human had already moved to avoid the fighting, and the magic blooded people were given ruins for a lot of their countries. New Canada was the one that was hit the least. The Eastern end of Africa was turned almost completely to ashes. At first people willingly moved to New Canada. It would be better than where they were living, less discrimination and politics. Liliana’s mother had gladly came over to get free of her past.   
However, New Canada didn’t end up being what they had thought it would be, and when some tried to return home, they were stopped at the border. As the years went by, there was a wall built around New Canada. It started in Montana and worked its way east then up through Canada. They built the side on the west of Canada last. They were trying to extend the territory of New Canada so they had waited. There was no wall on the north. The Great Slave Lake was enough of a barrier. In West China, the land on and around the west of china, the wall was twice as high. New Canada was the most pleasant of the places for magic bloods. It was possible to move from one land to another it just took a lot of money and paperwork.  
“Well, then you should be excited, because you’ll get to see a lot. We have some days in between planes in some of the stops so I can show you around if you want?” Marlon said, sipping at his drink. “In Los Angeles we have four days wait, there’s a lot to do there, if you’ve never been out of New Canada.”  
“I would love that!” Liliana said. She had seen pictures of the beach and the sand and the sun all together, but she didn’t know that it was actually like to be there. I wouldn’t mind spending days at the beach… with Marlon, she thought. She had come to the conclusion that she liked him, not in a romantic way, but in the way that she would enjoy her traveling. “I’m excited to fly too. My ancestors could fly, Animamovi used to be called wind walkers. Did you know that?” she asked Marlon.   
“Yes, there were a few during the war that could still do that. One of them created a vacuum in the sky and stopped missiles being launched into Canada. He was killed a little before the war ended, if I remember correctly. There were three others that could walk on the wind still alive when the war ended, but no one ever knew what happened to them.” Marlon said. “Most people believe that they were taken to a secret prison in the North.”  
“How do you know so much about everything?” Liliana asked him.  
“What do you mean?” he asked. Looking excited at seeing the waiter coming with the food Liliana wondered whether or not he had actually listened to what she just asked. The waiter set the food on the table. “I love chicken!” he said, starting to eat.   
Liliana frowned at him, “How do you know all these facts?”  
Marlon stopped eating for a second and sat as if he was trying to remember how he had learned them. “I read a lot, and watch the news.” He went back to his chicken. Liliana frowned at him again, but he didn’t seem to notice.  
Back at the hotel Marlon turned back on the news to see if they were still talking about the rainstorm, but they had moved on to other topics. “I wonder if there really is a prison up there.” Marlon said aloud. It didn’t seem like he was talking directly to Liliana, so she didn’t say anything. “Why would the government keep people out, unless there was anything they wanted kept hidden? Though I guess it could just be military bases, but why up there?   
The next few days were about the same. They talked, ate, and watched TV. When the plane finally did come, Liliana was feeling butterflies in her stomach. My ancestors could fly without machines. Maybe someday I’ll learn how to also.


	5. Giovanni

“I see that Agatha seems to have fixed your problem,” Thor said, the second that Giovanni opened his door. Giovanni was dressed in jeans and a sweater. He was actually able to feel the cold again, and he like it. He purposefully wouldn’t heat himself up all the time, and would rely on clothes to warm him. It made him feel more of a person, more of a normal person. “Do you think that she’ll want to work help us?”  
I forgot to even talk to her. Giovanni had not seen her since that day, except in the hallways. “Seeing as I don’t know what we’re helping for, I can’t really tell you what she’d think.” Giovanni said. He hoped that Thor wouldn’t ask how often they had talked. He had completely forgotten about Thor and Agatha. He had been spending a lot of time with the girl Shannon from downstairs, taking full advantage of his better heat stability.   
“Well then let’s go and find out, and I can explain it all to both of you.” Thor said flashing Giovanni a perfect smile. Giovanni felt his stomach turn a little. He’s so beautiful- powerful, it’s power, not just beauty. Giovanni was trying his hardest not to get as drawn into Thor as he did last time. They walked across the hall. Giovanni studied Thor as he knocked and they waited for a reply. He was wearing blue jeans and a white V-neck shirt. His hair was swopped mostly to one side, but a lot dropped in front of his face. He was often brushing it aside. He had a thick blue coat. He’s dressed so simple. Giovanni thought. Yet I can’t take my eyes off of him.   
Agatha opened the door. She looked better than she had last time Giovanni had seen her. She looked awake and her hair looked like it was taken care of and not just stuffed into an unwashed bun. “Hi Giovanni,” she said when she saw him, “and hi to… your friend.”   
“Thor,” Thor said, holding out his hand to Agatha. He was smiling at her.   
“Well, nice to meet you,” she said shaking his hand. “Can I help you with anything?” she asked, looking at Giovanni. Does she not see Thor? Giovanni thought, How can she ignore him and talk to me? Maybe she’s a lesbian, but, no, I’m straight and I am attracted to him, so a lesbian should be too. Giovanni was too busy thinking that he almost didn’t even notice they were talking about him.  
“No, Giovanni hasn’t said anything about you, I haven’t seen him since I helped him… with something personal.” Thor frowned at Giovanni. Even that is gorgeous. Giovanni thought.   
“Well, that’s alright, he must have just forgotten.” He looked at Giovanni again frowning. “I just needed a favor.” Thor said turning back to Agatha, “and I need both of your help.”  
“Alright,” Agatha said, a little hesitantly. “Come in, and we’ll see if we can help.” She said opening her door all the way, motioning for them to come in. Her house was cleaner then when Giovanni had last been here. It still smells of coffee. There were not any papers and clothes on the floor. There were several mugs around, but other than that, it seemed tidy. A dog came running up to smell them. It came to Giovanni first, but quickly ran to Thor when she saw him. They all sat down in her living room and there was an awkward moment of silence. The dog jumped onto the couch next to Thor and tried to sit on his lap. Thor laughed as he told the dog tom just sit next to him. The dog obeyed immediately.   
“Sorry,” Agatha apologized, “I’m watching a friend’s dog for the next couple days.”  
Thor smiled at the dog, scratching its head. The dog let out a sigh and settled down next to Thor, laying its head in Thor’s lap. “To start off, I guess,” Thor started. Giovanni was thankful that he had started the talking. He was unsure of what to say. He felt like both of them were a little unhappy with him. “We all have stories about what the non-magic bloods have done to us, the discrimination. The very fact that they brand out wrists like this,” he said holding out his wrist. “The pain from that was unforgettable. I still wake at night sometimes with my wrist on fire.” Agatha nodded her head. “They let us live on our own ‘country’ but we don’t have our own government. We can’t even leave without a visa, and it’s impossible for people with blood like any of ours to get one. New Canada is a prison, not a country. Human kind fears what we don’t know. They fear us and so they put us down like this, but why do we have to submit to them?” Thor asked. It took Giovanni a second to realize it wasn’t a rhetorical question.  
“What can we do?” Giovanni asked. “They have control of the everything.”  
“They think they do.” We all know that our magic blooded ancestor’s had more power than we do. But here’s the secret…” Thro leaned forward, “it wasn’t power they had. It was knowledge. We have all just lost the knowledge of using our abilities to our fullest extent. Our blood isn’t losing power, we’re just forgetting. Now don’t get me wrong, there are some people that just naturally actually do have more power in our blood. All three of us do, and that’s why my sister and I have picked you-“  
“What do you mean picked?” Agatha interrupted. She was looking at Thor with a discouraging look. “Picked for what?” What does it matter? Giovanni thought, look at him.  
Thor seemed to ignore her attitude, “Picked to help restore equality, to balance the magics with the non-magics.”  
“There is no such thing as equality,” Agatha said. “We try, as humans, as hard as we can to be equal, but someone has to be on top. We will never be regarded as equal to them. We may get along, but they will never treat us as equals.” That’s a cynical view, Giovanni thought.  
“Then let them think of us as betters. “ Thor said, “We would never lock them into prisons, we would never take away their most powerful and dangerous and lock them into freezing hidden prisons, to save in case we have need of them.”  
“What hidden prisons are you talking about?” Giovanni asked.   
“North of the Great Slave Lake, where there is absolutely nothing, is a high-tech prison where the stronger magic bloods are kept. If you want to know how I know this, I have been there. They didn’t know I was there, I snuck in with one of the trucks of soldiers. It’s harsh. Some of them are allowed to move around, it’s like every other prison almost, except everyone has these heavy things on their wrists and ankles which is supposed to stop their magic. I don’t know how they work, but they looked extremely uncomfortable.”  
“How did you get back out?” Agatha asked him.   
“With my smile,” Thor said, smiling at Agatha. Agatha seemed unimpressed. Why doesn’t it work on her? “We need you guys to help us, we want to avoid a full out war, and we can do most of it diplomatically with the right people. My sister is a Karma Witch, just like you, and we are trying to contact one other, but he hasn’t seemed to be interested in us. We sent him people to help, like we did to you, but he has turned them away.”  
“Who is the third one?” Agatha asked.  
“HI name’s Kaylan. We think that we will be able to get his help if we had his sister convince him, but she ran away from home recently and now we don’t know where she is.” There was awkward silence before Thor continued. “Religuimento used to rule. My sister and I have been studying history. Forgotten history that the non-magic bloods tried to destroy all evidence of. My sister is in South America trying to find an archive of books telling all types of bloods how to use their powers. We can change the world, Agatha, but we need your help.” Thor said, “and yours too Giovanni.” He added.  
Giovanni thought on what Thor said. Agatha was frowning. I could be a free man again, able to go where I pleased. Giovanni had really liked the idea. He didn’t know is it was the siren’s power or his own will but he said, “I will help.”   
Agatha looked at him, studying him. She looked back at Thor. “Do you expect me to lead?” she asked. “You said the Religuimento used to rule, so why would you need me?”   
Thor looked a little puzzled at her question but answered, “We need you to teach.” Now Agatha Agatha looked confused. “If you wanted to lead, you could very easily, but we need you to help teach. You changed Giovanni enough for him to contain his fire, and we need that done to many others.”   
Agatha stared at her lap. “Where or when would we start?” she asked. Not looking up, “If I were to join you.”  
“Right away, if possible. I think that we could be able to help the third Religuimento realize his potential.” Thor said. “If you need more convincing, all you have to do is just ask any person on the street about their story. I mean aren’t you tired of all of this? Wouldn’t you like to see the ocean, or to kiss under the Eiffel Tower?” Agatha started to look interest.   
“This would be a peaceful-like way of change?” Agatha asked.  
“As much as we can.” Thor said.   
“Where is the third Karma Changer?” Giovanni asked?  
“He lives on the south eastern boarder of New Canada. He hasn’t responded to any people that we have sent to him to ask for help, like I said. My sister was going to talk to him,” Thor said, “but she had to hurry to Argentina. So I was hoping that Agatha, you, could help teach him and convince him.” Agatha nodded her head. He’s won her over.   
“Will we be coming back here?”  
“Not for a long time.” Thor said, “We’ll have a lot to do.”  
“Alright, when would we leave.” Agatha said.   
“We have tickets for a train that leaves in a week.”  
“You have already had the tickets?” Giovanni asked.  
“Yes,” Thor said, “I had a feeling that you guys would make the smart choice.” Agatha was still frowning. “Will you both be able to leave then?”  
“Yeah, I think I will.” Agatha said hesitantly.  
“Me also.” Giovanni added.  
“Alright, the let’s get packed and ready. I’ll be back then, and we’ll set out to find Kaylan.”  
I can’t believe I’m going to do this, Giovanni thought. He felt nervous, but even more excited. I get to do something real, something productive with my life now.


End file.
